Series 8 Episode 8
by ALMH
Summary: My take on how 8.8 could go - spoilers up until 8.6. Part of my Spooks fic for a year - 7th one.
1. Last time on Spooks

Brief authors note - this chapter is the catch up chapter from previous episodes, so the -=- represents the cuts between shots. Oh, and please review!!! No one reviewed my last one :( I don't mind if it's just constructive criticism but I do like to know what you think!

* * *

She grabbed her boss, throwing him over the railings. She heard the thud as he hit the ground. She stared at his body. Lifeless. She felt little remorse.

-=-

Ros lay in her bed, desperately seeking the sleep that she both needed and feared. Every time she allowed her eyes to close, she saw Jo's face. Every time she started to drift away (hoping for a dreamless sleep,) she heard the gunshot repeated again and again. She could almost feel the gun in her hands.

-=-

They sat together, alone, in the quietest, most private part of the bar they could find. Ruth didn't really know why the other woman brought her here.

"I can't do this any more," Ros started, her blunt honesty surprising Ruth. Ros was never one for dealing with emotions. "I can't... I can't deal with all this death." Her broken voice and unshed tears gave Ruth an indication of how badly the last few years had affected Ros. Suddenly Ros looked her straight in the eye. "Is this normal? Is it really meant to hurt this much? Am I meant to feel this alone?"

"You're not alone -"

"It bloody well feels like I am. I barely speak to my family, my social life is non-existent, Lucas is preoccupied with sorting out Sarah, you and Harry have each other, and I'm not going to go talk to Tariq about my private life."

Ruth let out a small sigh. "I've never had Harry. There's always been something in the way -"

"Just tell him how you feel about him."

"It's not that simple -"

"It rarely is."

-=-

"Why did you kill your boss?" Lucas questioned Sarah patiently, his rage hidden.

-=-

"Why didn't you just shoot?" Sarah sobbed as she held the gun to Lucas's head.

-=-

He heard the gun click, and then a door slam. Exhausted and emotionally unstable Lucas crawled across to the wall and lay his back against it. He had lost Sarah. Sarah had never been his. Sarah had always been a traitor.


	2. Pretitles

Thank you for everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I really appreciate your reviews, and do let me know if there is anything I need to improve or you would like me to include in the next chapter e.g. more on the Ros/Ruth relationship. I will take any requests and improvements on board, although if you ask me to include something major like Danny returning from the dead, or something else that would be massive plot-wise, I will be unable to do so. This chapter is pre-titles, so a short glimpse, and the next chapter will be longer!

* * *

1 month ago.

Location: Basel, Switzerland.

Over a hundred delegates. One hotel. That was all they needed to bring the world economy to its knees. Old spooks, undercover spooks, members of various parliaments and civil services. Regardless of country of origin, they joined together. Their name - Nightingale. Their mission - a new world order. Nightingale were coming out of the shadows, set to bring about the biggest change the world had ever seen.

The car ground quietly to a stop in a deserted alley, no CCTV or any other kind of surveillance equipment there. They were safe. Two stepped out of the car, their identities well hidden by the lack of light. Another walked out of the shadows.

"Mr Mace," the man said quietly as he approached, shaking the other man's hand. "And this is?"

"Andreas. He has been helping me."

"How exactly?" the man asked. His face was masked too by the shadows, but he spoke with an English accent, quite deep. Mace was about to refuse when the man spoke again. "You know the level of trust that we need here Oliver. I need to know I can trust you."

"He has been undercover, and has established a link close to someone in MI5, Section D. The person of interest is of particular concern to the Nightingale operation, and have the potential to make our task near impossible. Andreas and I will be monitoring them, and if necessary removing them from Section D." Mace handed over a single photo to the man. The man briefly glanced at the photo, then handed it straight back.

"Keep deaths to a minimum for the moment. Whilst MI5 currently have no idea what is going on here, we have no need for them to start asking awkward questions. If the individual starts interfering and gets too close, take them out."

"Understood," Mace said simply. The conversation ended abruptly, with Mace and Andreas returning to their cars, and the other man returning to the shadows.

The doors slammed close, and the driver turned around to face the two silhouettes. "Where to now sir?"

"The hotel," Mace said briskly. The driver returned his attention forwards, keeping his eyes firmly on the road ahead, only briefly looking in the mirror at his two occupants. He said nothing else.

[Play Titles.]


	3. Chapter 1

Thank you for everyone who has reviewed so far! Once again, constructive criticism welcome! Sorry this one is a tad late (well, I say late, more like a couple of hours after I had planned to upload it), but life happened. Hope you enjoy the RR interaction! Please tell me if it's a bit OOC, I did try, but it's late now... Set after the titles.

* * *

Location: Thames House

The Grid was almost silent, a rarity. The only noise came from the eternal air-conditioning that never seemed to turn off, lighting turning carelessly discarded pages of paper over on desks. It wasn't often like this, so quiet and calm. Most days the first people arrived at 8 (and on one particularly memorable couple of weeks for Harry, 6 am to complete extra paperwork,) and Ruth was often the last to leave, staying late at work, burning the midnight oil.

Slowly, they all entered in the mornings, in dribs and drabs. Tariq entered last, but still before 8. Harry had been in his office when he noticed the geek of the Grid enter. Almost at once, as soon as Tariq had put down his coat and logged into his computer, they all departed from their desks, heading straight for the meeting room.

"Right, last night GCHQ intercepted some information from Spain," Harry started to explain, looking to Ruth briefly for support.

"The people concerned are of particular interest to us, they're rumoured to have been at the meetings in Basel," Ruth continued, clicking on the projector. Two images filled the screen. "Daniel Manzanedo and Adelia Sanchos. Both former operatives of Centro Nacional de Inteligencia."

"What was the information about?"

"A proposed attack, nothing specific, they were talking in euphemisms. But they were missing during the same five-day period that the Basel meetings went on."

"Tariq, you were working on trying to find the hotel."

"Like looking for a needle in a haystack. I'm going through the airport security footage, but it's taking a while as I don't know who I'm looking for. However, something did come up. It looks like a piece of CCTV footage at the Basel-Mulhouse Airport has been tampered with."

"Can you get the original footage back?" Ros asked.

"I'm trying, but it's an incredibly well made fake."

"Tariq, you're going to continue working on that. At the moment it's our best link to Nightingale. Ruth?"

"I know someone at GCHQ who said they'd sent over an information that they could find that could have a possible link. I was going to try and see if they've missed anything out."

He gave her an almost inconspicuous nod. "Lucas, you're with me today. Ros, you'll be in charge. Anything new, tell me immediately." Ros gave him a small nod.

Harry and Lucas left immediately, with Tariq following immediately afterwards. Ruth stood there, gathering her things. She looked up at Ros when the other woman failed to move.

"Ros? Are you alright?" Ros quickly glanced outside, and watched Harry and Lucas leave the Grid.

"Have you spoken to him yet?" She asked bluntly.

"Spoken to who yet?" Ruth asked blankly, the only hint that she knew what Ros meant was with the increased speed she gathered the rest of her files with.

"Harry," Ros asked, "Ruth, you haven't have you?"

"We've both been busy," she said, walking out. Ros refused to take the bait, and instead followed Ruth to her desk.

"Come on, you haven't been that busy to avoid talking to someone." Ros watched as Ruth sat down at her desk already full of files from GCHQ. She paused, trying to figure out what next to do. She decided to change tack. "Fine. You're having lunch with me today."

"Lunch?" Ruth told her quietly. "I didn't know that you were really that interested in my relationships with other people,"

"I thought that's what friends did." There was a pause.

"Ok. Lunch," Ruth finally said resignedly. "Will you leave me alone till then and not keep asking me than?"

"Perhaps. I need to go anyway, I've got to meet a contact soon. So, 1, here. Oh, and let me know if you find anything new about Nightingale." Ros turned away and left briskly, completely ignoring Tariq on her way out. Tariq looked after her, his reaction one of slight hurt. Ruth smiled sympathetically at him, but quickly returned to her work.


	4. Chapter 2

Thanks so much for your reviews so far! Hope you enjoy this chapter. Be warned - a surprise at the end...

* * *

Ros walked briskly to the meet. It was a hidden place, no way of being followed without it being obvious. She arrived slightly early, choosing to stand in the shadows. Finally her contact arrived, looking round the area carelessly.

"Joshua," she said loudly, making her way out of the shadows.

The man smiled. "Hello Eleanor."

"How about we skip the pleasantries and move onto you telling me what you've found?" she asked sharply. The man continued to smile.

"As usual, all business with you." He handed over a file. "I've got this. It's the file of an MI5 officer with links to Basel. Large amounts of money deposited in a bank account, and they were at the meetings in Basel. Good enough?"

"It'll do," she answered, turning on her heel and walking away, slipping the file into her jacket.

-=-

Tariq looked up briefly from the computer screen when he heard the unmistakable sound of more files being placed on Ruth's desk. Sympathetically he smiled at her. She weakly smiled back, grabbing a new file to read through and analyse. This one he noticed had been different from the rest - a brown paper envelope instead of a file. He briefly returned his attention to the screen, but it went back almost immediately to Ruth opening the envelope.

She brought out a couple of disks, and the wad of paper that was contained inside, but was at the wrong side to read what was on it. Quietly sighing he went back to his work, only briefly looking up out of curiosity every so often.

Ruth finally broke the silence half an hour later. "I've got to go out, can you tell Ros when she comes back that I won't be able to meet her for lunch."

"Everything alright?" he queried, her voice softer and more nervous than normal.

"Of course, just got too much work to do, you know. I'll be back in about an hour, you'll be alright by yourself?"

"Of course. Going anywhere nice?"

"No, not really," she answered back simply. "So I'll see you in an hour then." She quickly grabbed her bag and her coat and rushed off the Grid. Tariq watched her leave, and barely looked up from his computer, even when the person from GCHQ came in to collect some of the files from Ruth's desk.

-=-

"Remind me why I'm here again?" Lucas asked Harry quietly as they waited to be admitted to see the new Home Secretary.

"I want a second opinion on the Home Secretary. An unbiased opinion," he answered briskly and quietly.

Finally they were admitted to see the man. The first thing that struck Lucas was the unmistakable pompousness of the man. He was sitting down behind his desk, smiling similarly to a snake when it was about to eat its prey.

"Sir Harry Pearce," he said loudly. "And this is?"

"Lucas North, Senior Case Officer," he introduced himself. The man gestured for them to sit down.

-=-

"Well the man is an arrogant self-centered politician," Lucas told Harry.

"Good to know we're of the same opinion," he replied as they made their way through the doors onto the Grid. The new Home Secretary had insisted on walking them both all the way back to Thames House, an unpleasant experience.

Both men looked around. "Tariq, is no one else here? I thought Ros and Ruth were here with you," Harry told him.

"Ros went out to see a contact, and Ruth left about ten minutes ago, didn't say where," he answered. Ros suddenly walked onto the Grid behind Lucas.

"Speak of the devil," Lucas murmured.

"Where did you say Ruth went to?" Ros asked, choosing to ignore Lucas's comment.

"I don't know, she just went ten minutes ago," Tariq repeated. "She said to tell you that she won't be able to meet for lunch -"

"Any reason why?" Ros brought out the file from her jacket, choosing to start reading it whilst waiting for an answer.

"No, she didn't say anything."

Harry frowned. "Not like Ruth," he murmured. He turned to Ros. "Ros, is everything alright?"

"This is a file from my contact. He said it showed proof of a mole in MI5 who was involved in Basel," she said, her voice normal except for a slight waver.

"And? Who?"

"It says Ruth."


	5. Chapter 3

Oooh, coming to the climax soon! Split into two chapters... actually, for no real reason other than the other half isn't finished yet. It will be uploaded this evening though, so keep your eyes out for it!

Thanks for all who have reviewed so far :)

* * *

Everyone stayed frozen. All avoided eye contact.

"We need to verify if this information is true," Ros said firmly. "Tariq, check Ruth's file." He nodded and quickly opened a new application.

"Ruth isn't a mole," Harry said decisively.

"How do we know that?" Lucas questioned. "It appears that Nightingale have moles everywhere, why not in MI5, why not in Section D?"

"I have no issue with Nightingale having the capability to have a mole or even several inside MI5, but not Ruth. I've worked with Ruth for years, she isn't a mole."

"Harry, we can't rely on trust, not with Nightingale," Lucas replied. "We can't trust anyone, anyone could betray us." Harry stared at Lucas, furious. Ros tried to rescue the situation.

"Harry, no one is saying that Ruth is a mole but we have to investigate the possibility. I suggest we set about checking if the information is correct and trying to contact Ruth, see if she knows anything about this." Harry chose to glare at Ros, until finally nodding.

He quickly brought out his phone, dialling her number. "I'm sorry that the person you are calling is not available at the moment -" he hung up.

Ros quickly moved round to her desk, quickly typing. "Ok, I've got internal CCTV." Lucas moved round behind her, Harry reluctantly following. "So she left, and turned right -" she switched views on the external camera "- Ok, she's gone to Southwark tube station, and now if we look at her Oyster card records..." Ros typed in to the computer, and waited impatiently during the couple of seconds it took to load.

"Vauxhall to Oxford Circus - that's the last recorded travel we have for her," Lucas pointed out. Harry felt uncomfortable - she hated other people being spied on. He didn't want to know how she'd react when she found out that they were watching her.

"And here she is leaving the station, turning right out of the station to go down Regent Street..." Ros continued to play with the cameras. "And the last we see of her is slightly further down Regents Street, it looks like she's going on to Beak Street."

"Ros," Tariq said. All three turned to face Tariq. "I've checked the money trail, and it looks genuine. There was an account set up by Ruth whilst in Cyprus for some reason, dated three months ago. One lump sum, nearly £5 million. And there are no records for being in Cyprus during the week of the Basel meeting." The silence was deafening. No one could really believe this was true.

"Tariq, can you do a face recognition check for Ruth in the area around Oxford Circus?" He nodded. "Ros and I will go down there -"

"I'm coming as well," Harry added firmly. There would be no compromises on this one for Harry. Lucas went to argue, but caught Ros's look and decided against.

"Fine. We'll leave as soon as everyone is ready, and go to Oxford Circus, and move on from there. Tariq, send over any new information as and when you get it." Tariq nodded, and all three quickly grabbed their coats. Lucas grabbed three guns (just to be on the safe side as he assured himself,) and Ros managed to sneak into her pocket a wire.

-=-

The mansion was set in the middle of the countryside. The one place Mace truly felt safe. His home.

He drove up to the front of his house, his usual chauffeur no longer working for him. Actually his usual chauffeur was no longer alive, but that was a minor issue.

The front door opened, and light flooded out. One person stepped out of the light, another stayed in it, the bright illumination blocking out all details of their face so they were unrecognisable. The one who stepped forwards was undisguised by the light, their features were easily visible.

"Miss Caulfield," he said in his usual slick tone.

"Mr Mace. Everyone is inside waiting for you." He continued up the steps, pecking Sarah on the cheek and shaking the hand of the man standing next to her. For one moment his face was visible. He was gone too quickly for anyone for anyone outside of the manor to be able to recognise.


	6. Chapter 4

Just so you all know, I am safely hidden away so any murderous ambitions on me that you have once you reach the end of the chapter cannot be acted upon :P. Thank you to all who have reviewed, and any people who are reading and not reviewing, regardless of whether you have an account on here, please review. I would love to hear your views on this chapter.

* * *

The car ride was unpleasant for all involved. As they approached the station Tariq had located Ruth - a park about 20 minutes walk away from the station.

"I'll talk to her," Harry said firmly as they neared the park.

"Harry, you're -"

"Ruth trusts me more than you -"

Ros looked at Lucas, and Lucas stared back. Lucas finally nodded, and turned back to the window. Ros sighed. "Fine. But you're wearing this." She took the wire out of her pocket. "No arguments, if you don't do it you're not going anywhere near Ruth. We need to be able to hear what she's saying to you and verify any information she gives you." He scowled at the wire, but reluctantly put it on. "Take it off and we'll come in."

"Fine," he said. The car suddenly stopped outside the park entrance.

"Tariq, are there any other exits from the park?" Ros asked him on the phone. "Ok." She hung up quickly.

"What's the plan?" Lucas asked.

"There are multiple exits from the park so we can't block off the exits with the two of us. Lucas, you approach from the other side, I'll cover your back Harry. That way if anything does happen then we'll be able to cover you. Tariq has accessed the park CCTV so we know where she is - she's on a bench on the west side of the park and has been there for around 20 minutes. Harry, you go in and talk to her, we'll remain behind as back up." All nodded.

Harry stepped out of the car, Ros following behind him.

"Give me five minutes to get round to the other side of the park," Lucas told them, jogging round the park. Harry stopped and looked impatiently at his watch.

Ros watched him with concern, but said nothing. Finally he looked up and back to the park entrance.

"She's not a mole," he told Ros firmly.

"I know. But we need to prove that she isn't, we can't take any chances. We need to find out what she knows, why she's there in the first place." He nodded, and looked back to his watch.

-=-

Tariq sat at his desk, and looked around. He once again was truly alone and felt horrendously out of place. He wasn't meant to be here. He shouldn't be so alone.

The phone rang loudly. He quickly picked it up.

"Tariq? We're moving in now, make sure you keep your eyes on the CCTV, let us know if anything happens," Ros said down the phone, before quickly hanging up.

He quickly spun round to the computer, and stared at the screen.

-=-

He walked towards her, his heart beating quicker than normal. She couldn't be a mole, she couldn't. He could see her now, sitting on a bench by herself, leaning forward. He got closer and saw the tear trails on her face.

"Ruth," he whispered. She looked up at him, and quickly rubbed her face. "Ruth."

"Let me guess, you've come to arrest me for being a mole," she said simply. "You've probably got information that I'm working for Nightingale or some other organisation and once again no one believes I'm innocent."

"I do," he whispered quietly.

She kept her eyes away from him. "Bet you're the only one."

"Ruth, no one believes you're a mole. We just need to prove it. Everyone is just concerned because you disappeared this morning."

"I went to go meet someone who had extensive knowledge on the Nightingale operation in Britain," she explained. "I should have... should have told Tariq where I was going but the information... I didn't want to believe it was true."

"What information?"

She shivered slightly. "It was... was information from a source with details... details of various meetings..."

"Meetings between who?"

"Meetings between... between..." she took her head in her hands and paused for a moment. She sat back up again. "This is Cotterdam again, it's happening all over again. And I... I don't know if I can make it through. I can't... I won't go through leaving again, because they find out and..." she stammered.

"They find out?" he questioned. "Ruth, what do you mean?"

"Ma-" He noticed the red dot on her head too late. Suddenly there was a gunshot and she collapsed forwards.

He heard Ros swear loudly in his ear piece, and vaguely heard someone calling an ambulance. Quickly he looked around, but there was no one there who was holding a gun, no one who looked guilty. Gently he lifted her off the ground, holding her body close, whispering that she was going to be alright. He could only hope that she could hear him, and would live.


	7. Chapter 5

Oooh, hopefully I'll get fewer threats after this chapter ;) But seriously, please keep reviewing. I am aiming to get this finished by the latest on Tuesday, so not long to go! Two more chapters left after this one.

* * *

The ambulance crew quickly arrived, and Ruth was rushed away. He wasn't allowed with her.

"Harry," Ros said softly as she watched him watch the ambulance leaving. He turned to her.

"She wasn't a mole," he said firmly. "She just knew too much."

Ros nodded. "Yes. Tariq is going over the CCTV as we speak." She paused. "She will be alright Harry."

"She was right though. This is Cotterdam all over again. Faked documents, an external source trying to communicate through Ruth."

"It sounded like she was going to say Mace," Ros continued. "I think we should pay him a visit." Ros had never been sentimental when she joined the service, but the years had changed her. Last time she felt very little, slight annoyance that she had been manipulated into causing Ruth to lose her job. But now... well, now it was tearing her up inside. First Jo, now Ruth. Add that to the list of people who had already died. Like acid the increasing list of deaths kept eroding away her defences.

He nodded.

"What's Cotterdam?" Lucas asked. Harry walked away back to the car, leaving Ros to explain.

"Cotterdam was an operation. Mace was trying to cover up terrorists being taken from a high security prison and tortured, whilst at the same time getting Harry to join in his league of torture," she answered succinctly. "He did this through Ruth, set her up. She had to fake her own death."

"And you think he's involved this time?" Ros just nodded.

"And even if he isn't, being the slimy git he is he's likely to know more than we are about Nightingale. We're going to go extract the information from him." Ros turned round to walk away.

"This is personal," he said. "Mace being involved has made it personal. Why?"

She turned back round to face him. "Yes, yes it is. You see... Ruth had been investigating Maudsley, the man who was trying to get information to us, and went round to his house. I told Mace she'd gone there. It was my fault she lost her job, my fault she had to escape. I won't let him get away with this again. I owe her that much."

-=-

"It's done," was the first thing the man on the end of the phone said. Mace smiled.

"Good. Are they still oblivious?"

"I think so, but they may have suspicions."

Mace nodded. "Right. Get back here at once then, and we'll sort out what to do next." The phone call ended.

-=-

Lucas was at the wheel when Tariq chose to phone. Letting either Ros or Harry drive, he had decided, would risk his life. For both of them this was too personal, too raw. Instead he drove, ignoring the comments from the two of them to drive faster.

"Tariq," Ros answered, putting the phone on loudspeaker.

"Ros, I set up a call intercept around the park as soon as..." it hung unsaid. "Well, I got one. Pay as you go sim to another pay as you go." He played the audio file. "And I managed to get a rough location of where they were calling."

"Around the area of Mace's house?" she asked.

"Yes. I'm going to work on voice-matching them to make sure, there's no CCTV footage of anyone out of the ordinary, I've checked."

"Right, well work on getting a name as soon as possible." Ros hung up. "Lucas, if you do not speed up and we end up getting there after they've left I will personally hold you responsible and -" Lucas chose at that moment to up the speed. Ros could be terrifying when she chose to.

Harry remained blind to the conversation between both Ros and Tariq, but also between Ros and Lucas. He kept his face carefully turned away to the window, his mind replaying over and over again the last few moments. Suddenly it clicked. He took out his phone and turned back to Ros, waiting for Tariq to pick up.

"Tariq? It's Harry. She said this morning she was going to a meet, I think she had just received some information before she went, a file or a note or something. Did you see her with anything?"

"Well, she had a brown envelope, that was the last thing I saw her reading."

"Is it still there?" Tariq stood up and looked at Ruth's desk.

"No, no it's not."

"Can you check to see what happened to it on the internal CCTV, see if she took it with her-"

"Or if someone else took it," Ros whispered, it suddenly hitting her.

"One moment," Tariq told him. "Ok, going back to this morning... I've got her leaving, she hasn't got the envelope, it's on her desk... Wait, the man from GCHQ came in and took some files, including the envelope."

"Face match him," he said firmly.

There was an uncomfortable silence. "I've checked the person against all the records of those at GCHQ. He isn't there, he doesn't work for GCHQ. I'll try seeing what swipe card he used to get in..." There was another pause. "It's a blank swipe card, no name, no nothing. It's been forged."

"Get him face matched, we need to find out who he is. Call me back when you're done."

He hung up quickly, but kept the phone in his hands instead of putting it in his pocket. Impatiently he looked at his watch.

"Lucas, how long till we get there?"

"ETA about 15 minutes." Harry nodded and continued to look outside the window.

-=-

Tariq typed furiously on the computer. He hated being this alone, feeling this vulnerable on the Grid. Normally there was someone else there with him, even in the evenings. This felt so alien, and today the stakes were higher. It just mounted the stress on him.

-=-

"We're two minutes away," Lucas said. "What's the strategy, park and walk?"

"Seems like a good enough one," Ros told him. She called Tariq. "Tariq? I need you to hack into the CCTV for Mace's house. Set it on a loop so he won't see us enter."

"Ok," he said. "You'll have to give me a couple of minutes. Do you want me to check how many are inside first?"

"That would be good, yes."

"Ok... there are three people. The man who came in earlier, another man -"

"Probably Mace -"

"And a woman... It looks like Sarah Caulfield." Everyone looked at each other.

"Ok, where are they?"

"All are in a room at the back of the house, I can give you directions." He typed furiously, desperately changing the CCTV. "Ok, I've got the CCTV on a loop. I'll send a copy of the map of his house to your PDA, but the best way seems to be through the front door. I can disable the front door lock from here, and no other alarms appear to be on, so it should be an easy journey to them."

Ros' phone beeped to signify that the map had got through. "Thanks," she said, and hung up. Lucas pulled in to the side of the road and turned the engine off. He then handed a gun to each of the occupants in the car.

"Ready?" he asked them both.

"What do you think?" Ros responded as they all got out of the car.

* * *

Oooh! Meeting with Mace next chapter, and you'll find out who the man is... Please please review though! I can see how many people read this story, and it's more than 2/3, please please review even if you haven't before!


	8. Chapter 6

The penultimate chapter. In a bizarre way I'm going to miss this story, but I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out, considering that this week has been one of the busiest weeks I've had since starting the Spooks For A Year challenge, when I only had one weekday evening in instead of all of them, so I'm quite pleased with it. Obviously I'd like to know your opinion on this story :) So (you can guess what's coming next,) please review! Even if you haven't reviewed before, or you don't have an account, please review! Thanks to all who have reviewed so far.

FYI Mice is another term for MI5. Spoilers up until 8.7 for this chapter.

* * *

The three of them sat down at the table. Mace, Sarah, and the other man.

"So, to start this meeting," Mace said firmly.

"There are only three of us, this can hardly count as a meeting. What happened to Sholto?" Sarah asked.

"Sholto?" Mace asked. "Oh, he got called back to Switzerland."

"Are we going to go back as well?" the man asked. "The mice are hardly going to let us carry on with our plans, they've foiled most of them so far -"

"If you are referring to the Muslim and Hindu twin attacks then that is only one operation. We have succeeded in removing both the Home Secretary and Ruth Evershed -"

"Section D won't take it well," Sarah pointed out.

"They're going to be out to get us, it won't take them long to figure out who is behind this. Ruth had just figured it out, they will be looking back through her work to see if she's left a hint behind, and if she has -"

"You removed the file?" Mace asked.

"-Yes but -"

"No yes buts. No one else would have known our identities, the only person who knew has since died, and the trail of information stopped at Miss Evershed -"

"Oh really?" another voice asked. The three turned round to see three intruders to their gathering standing in the doorway, guns pointed out. "Put your hands in the air," Ros said calmly, "And you're less likely to get hurt."

The three slowly put their hands up. "Well well this was unexpected," Mace said normally.

"You know what is even more unexpected?" Lucas asked. "What's more unexpected is seeing you hear, Daniel." The man stared at Lucas. "We managed to get an ID on you from your call to Mace here. Daniel Manzanedo, Spanish Intelligence -"

"Previous undercover operations include work in the Iranian Embassy and more recently 18 months in Cyprus," Ros said cooly. "I believe you met a friend of ours there."

"I don't know what you're talking about -"

"Does the name George ring a bell? George, with a son called Nico." Ros answered. "Was he even your son? Or was it just an operation?" She stared at Mace. "You found where Ruth was, and decided to set a honey trap for her. Just in case it came in useful. I'm guessing then that you were in on her attempted kidnap, along with Mani, in search for the uranium. Daniel's death would have been faked, and you all slipped under the covers. Then Ruth got too close to the truth, perhaps someone sent her some information explaining your role in it, and she went to meet them, and found out that she had been set up again by you," she glared at Mace. "So she went to go sort herself out, and when we're trying to talk to her you shoot her. You either tailed her or you tailed us to make sure that she couldn't pass any information on to us."

"Very good," Mace said. "Very good Miss Myers." He took a step forward, and the team pointed their guns at him. Daniel took his chance and ran forward, grabbing Lucas's wrist and taking the gun off him. Sarah and Mace grabbed guns from their belts and pointed them at each member of the team.

"Put your guns down," Mace said slowly. The members of Section D looked at each other, and simultaneously Lucas attempted to get free of his holder, and the other two aimed shots at Sarah and Mace.

"SHOOT HIM!" Mace yelled to Sarah, who stood with a clear shot of Lucas. Sarah looked at Mace, then back at Lucas. "SHOOT HIM OR ELSE I WILL KILL YOU." She turned to Lucas and held up the gun with shaking hands and pulled the trigger.

Lucas fell to the ground, and managed to grab hold of the gun off Daniel, pointing it at his chest. He heard a groan from Mace as a bullet hit its spot and Lucas aimed the gun backwards, pointing the gun at random and firing bullets to give him some cover. He heard another person fall to the ground. He turned around. Both Sarah and Mace were on the floor. He allowed his breathing to slow. That was the moment he realised that Sarah's bullet. That was the moment he realised he was alive. That was the moment when he realised he had heard someone else fall to the ground.

He turned his head slightly to the side, not releasing his hold on Daniel, and saw a familiar blond lying on the floor. Harry had already made his way over, trying his best to stop the bleeding. Lucas took off his belt with one hand and some how managed to put it round Daniel's hands. He wasn't entirely sure how he did it, he just knew he had to get to Ros as soon as possible. Once Daniel was secure he ran over to Ros, bringing out his mobile as well.

"Tariq? We need an ambulance now, we're at Mace's house," he said quickly, and hung up. Ros smiled weakly up at them both.

"You're going to be fine Ros," Harry said firmly. Lucas noticed his hands were shaking. Obviously what Harry said wasn't necessarily what he believed.

"Tis but a scratch," she whispered, smiling.

"Romeo and Juliet," Lucas answered.

"You make sure... you make sure Ruth is alright. Promise me," she whispered. "Both of you."

"I promise," they said quietly one after the other. She weakly smiled as they both said it. The ambulance arrived five minutes later but it was too late. Ros had allowed herself to close her eyes and drift away.


	9. Chapter 7

Quite a short final chapter, but hopefully tying up all the loose pieces. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, and even if you haven't reviewed so far please do now!!!

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A week later...

He sat by her, too afraid to touch her, afraid that she might break. The scarring on her head, whilst still healing, was starting to fade slightly. To an inattentive observer she was just sleeping. To those who knew, she was in a coma, her mind still healing.

"Hi Ruth... It's Harry," he quietly said. "I bet you're probably sick of listening to me talking to you now but..." He looked to the wall. "Why did you have to get yourself hurt Ruth?" He turned back to Ruth, his normally still hands shaking and restless.

"It's not been the same without you and Ros. It's so quiet... I told you that Ros told us to look after you. It seems you two are finally friends... were. Ruth, please wake up. I need you." He allowed one of his hands to gently touch hers, as she had once done to his hand. "You always tell me when I'm making the wrong decision, when I'm being irrational." He stared at her face, trying to judge if she could hear him. Her face stayed as it had for the last week, emotionless. The tubes coming into and out of her terrified him too. It meant she was seriously ill, that he was highly likely to lose her again. Something he could never cope with.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "We always knew you weren't a mole Ruth, we really did. The original file you had, the one saying Mace and -" he paused, not knowing what to call him "- well, it got destroyed. Mace survived his wound, unfortunately. But he got sentenced for... for hurting you, and for killing his driver. Did you know it was him that gave you the information? You probably did, knowing you. You always know everything." He smiled slightly. "You always know the answer."

"Sarah," he continued, "Well, she was fine as well. She gave us all the information she had on Nightingale, and now she's free. Probably being hunted down by the Americans as we speak. And... and Daniel killed himself. I'm so sorry that Mace managed to find you, I should have done something more to make sure that you were safe. I let you down, and because I let you down, you got hurt and I'm so sorry for that. I've never wanted you to get hurt... I love you Ruth." He paused, the tears now freely rolling down his face as he held her hand tighter.

[End episode.]


End file.
